Carlos the Jackal: Were Libyans really responsible for Lockerbie Crash? Then who?

WERE THEY LIBYANS WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PLANE CRASH IN LOCKERBIE?

This is what Carlos the Jackal says in his second book titled "It Is Carlos's Turn to Talk" and published in Turkey for the first time in November 2010.

Youíll remember, last week, nearly all the Western media stormed over how Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was supposedly the murderer of nearly 300 people in the plane crash after a "terrorist" bomb attack over Lockerbie town in Scotland on December 21, 1988, could be set free. And, they protested about his being saluted in his own country as a hero who they thought was a murderer.

Firstly, I would like to say that Libyan government does not have any connection with this event. Neither Libya nor Libyans were involved in this event from the beginning to the end. It is not a groundless defense, it is the definite truth. Indeed, neither Qaddafi likes me nor I like him. Because he was not honest and supportive to me. Do not think that Iím on the side of Libya as a favor. I'm just trying to express the truth for me. Iím on the side of Libya on this issue since all the Libyan people were attacked under the pretext of Lockerbie with prejudice.

First of all, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi who was imprisoned as the responsible one for this event was the security chief of Tripoli Airport. And, from diplomats to official representatives whoever came to Libya know him like I saw him many times when I was coming to or leaving Libya because he was the one organizing security there.

Similarly, al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah who was tried together with al-Megrahi in Lahey did not have any connection with this event. He was a station manager for Libyan Arab Airlines at Luqa Airport, Malta. After the judicial process, they let him go back to Libya as his innocence was proved.

But, why was Abdelbaset al-Megrahi given a heroís welcome when he landed in Libya? He was welcomed like that because he is really a hero, a real hero!

This can be asked: Why did Libya admit that they had responsibility for this event? They did so since they noticed that FBI's evidence that was just "invented" and full of nonsensical things would probably be a pretext for an American attack against Libya. In order to stop this, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi accepted to be tried in Lahey for of a crime he had never committed. He sacrificed all his life for the sake of Libya, for the good of Ummah and for this duty given by Libyan government. I think, he is a person to be respected by Ummah for his unique bravery. Libyaís being a tribal state cannot overshadow the greatness of this self-sacrifice. You know, since he was seriously ill, he was sent to his country. Although this can be seen as the primary reason for setting him free, another reason behind his release is that Scottish Criminal Justice had new evidence that Libyans were not connected with the bombs used in the attack.

Did the USA not know who and which countries actually organized this operation? Of course, they did. They knew that Libya or Libyans were not responsible, and they also knew the countries behind the attack, but America was afraid of confronting and fighting them. Therefore, they tried to respond by assailing and accusing Libya. At last, Libya got rid of them by sacrificing those heroes and unfortunately by accepting to pay a huge amount of compensation, that is, three billion dollars.

The Scottish lawyer Eddie McKechnie who had defended these Libyans in Lahey is my lawyer as well. In 2003, he came from Scotland only to visit me in prison. I told him about everything I knew about this issue. We talked from morning till evening and I sent my greetings to his Libyan clients thanks to him.

To underline this issue again, I swear that Libya is not responsible for this attack. Besides, although the USA knew this truth better than anybody, they made up a story and laid the blame at Libyaís door. Because, it was against their interests to talk about the truth. Why? Because, there were high-ranking intelligence officers from the CIA station in the Middle East on that plane, and they all died. Those agents were manipulating some drug smugglers and having covert relationships with them for intelligence and other operations. It was a complicated issue for America which could not be explained. Whatís more, the USA was one of the responsible ones of the incident. They were used by the men who they had wanted to make use of and were trapped due to their foolishness. But I want to say something, if Libya can press for the issue in a clever way, not only will the crimes of the USA come to the fore, but also Libya will be able to get back the three billion dollars paid as compensation. This crime of the USA is not only against Libya, but also against all of humanity. It is an unheard-of justice scandal and a political complot organized shamelessly. Thatís what I can say about this issue.